For a shining future - 12 photos have won the IKI photo contest!

The young boy with an innovative LED headlamp made such a great impression on the jury of the IKI photo contest that his photo was selected as the best overall by a clear margin!

The practical solar lamp from Uganda is truly versatile: it is compact and mobile, rechargeable and can even be powered with a foot pedal when there is no sunlight available.

The marvellous little lamp with a bright future was developed by Nuru Energy, a company that supports local organisations in Africa and India in implementing their projects. Nuru Energy focuses on the global problem of energy poverty, which currently affects about 2 billion people worldwide.

The company developed an effective, easy to use tool called the Power Circle Pedal Generator. It provides a means to charge LED lamps, radios or mobile phones using reliable, clean and sustainable energy. The company operates in a socially and environmentally-friendly manner and won the SEED Low Carbon Award in 2013, which is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

GIZ in Brazil won second and third place for best photos with its project 'Prevention, Control and Monitoring of Fires in the Cerrado'. The Cerrado is one of the most biodiverse savannah landscapes in the world.

But the constantly recurring forest fires are having grave consequences, leading to loss of biodiversity, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and health problems caused by smoke. In the project region in 2010, about 40 per cent of the protected area totalling about 10,000 square kilometres was destroyed - an area larger than Cyprus.